


arkoudaphobia

by seirensen



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bears, Blood and Injury, F/F, death mention, mentions of the rest of hhw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 12:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12984060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seirensen/pseuds/seirensen
Summary: arkoudaphobia (n.) - a fear of bears(a fire emblem au of sorts)





	arkoudaphobia

**Author's Note:**

> i am a baby fire emblem fan. i have also never played the tellius games, despite borrowing concepts from it. please don't @ me for any lore inconsistencies im working on it.

Kanon was afraid of death.

Like many children, she grew up hearing about the heroes of old who defended their kingdom from evil, and aspired to be like them. It helped that learning how to fight was a necessity in her village, as the thriving merchant economy was a prime target for bandits. As she grew older, however, the reality of battle dawned on her. It was self defense, the adults would say, trying to reason with her. Unfortunately, the idea of piercing the flesh of another human being made her sick. But the thought of metal piercing her, ripping through her body, watching blood pour from out of her, her flesh growing cold and her conscious fading into darkness…

That was her worst nightmare.

Kanon resigned herself to live a peaceful life. After years of racking up loss after loss in the sparring ring, Kanon abandoned the lance. Let others become the heroes she wished to be. A normal life fit a weakling like her. Kokoro’s appearance put a damper on that plan. Her cause was noble, wanting to end the fighting so everyone in the world could smile. That end goal, and the enthusiasm and optimism behind her words, gave Kanon hope. She picked up her lance once again, for Kokoro.

As the bandit lifted his axe, ready to end a young girl's life, Kanon regretted that decision. Normally, she could move out of the way with ease. Her fear was debilitating, but at least it had taught her how to dodge fairly well. The bandit had surprised her, however. With one hand desperately trying to hold back the blood, she couldn't hold her lance properly to counterattack. Not that it mattered, since the feeling of warm liquid pouring out of her paralyzed her on the spot. She would die here, in the forest surrounding an isolated village far from her own, slowly and painfully. At least the tears would blur her final sight, so she wouldn't see what it was that ended her. She didn't want to die. Not here. Not like this. She shut her eyes, waiting for the final blow.

Instead of the grotesque sound of iron cutting through guts, there was a loud roar and a scream.

Kanon opened her eyes. The bandit was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by a large bear. Unlike those she'd seen in books, this one bore a strange color, a bright pink that she'd only seen on the wildflowers near her home. The bear stared at her, and she stared at the blood, all the blood dripping from the bear's claws, the blood that was once part of the bandit that almost killed her.

Kanon’s breath hitched at the sight of the beast moving forward. She'd been naive to believe for even a moment that the disappearance of the bandit meant her salvation. The bear would eat her just like it did the bandit. She tried to scream for someone, anyone, but all that came out was frightened squeaks. She was going to die, it would be even more painful than the bandit, no, this wasn't what she wanted, the universe was too cruel—

The last thing she saw before passing out was a blur of pink.

 

* * *

 

Kanon woke up aching all over. She grasped at her chest, breathing heavily. The first thing she noticed outside of the pain was the clumsy bandage wrapping, a characteristic of Kokoro’s healing style. The next was her location, which seemed to be back at the camp they’d set up to rest in.

Then, the memories came rushing back. She was supposed to be dead, wasn’t she? Bears were attracted to blood, right? There’s no way she should’ve survived that. And yet, here she was, still breathing. With every breath, whatever was keeping in Kanon’s tears slipped, until she was bawling.

But who cared, she was alive…!

Suddenly, there was the sound of arguing from outside.

Could it be considered arguing? It really sounded like someone protesting quite loudly, and Kokoro completely ignoring it, as always.

“If you're going to join us, you need to introduce yourself to everyone!”

“I told you, I'm not joining!”

“And when we're done, you need to bring Michelle to do the same!”

“Why do I have to do it twice… Are you even listening?!”

The tent door opened, and Kokoro poked her head in curiously. “Kanoooon… Ooh! You're awake! Are you feeling better? Should I heal you again?”

“Ah…” Kanon quickly wiped her eyes. “I… I'm fine, Kokoro. Just a bit achy.” She smiled, trying to reassure the cleric, but she didn't feel that it was convincing enough.

Luckily, Kokoro wasn't very perceptive, so that was enough for her. “I'm glad! It was pretty scary… we thought you were going to die.” Kanon flinched, but Kokoro continued as if it was nothing.

“It was a good thing Michelle was around to help!”

“...Michelle?”

“Yeah, Michelle! She's this _reeeeeally_ big pink bear! She looked really scary, but she found you and carried you back to us!”

The bear... It helped?

“She left before I could ask her to join us, but I found out a lot about her from the villagers here! They said she’s really shy and doesn't talk to people, but she helps them out a lot.” Kokoro paused. “...oh right! I came here to introduce you to a new member!” On that cue, Kokoro pulled the hand she'd been holding onto forward, revealing a scruffy raven-haired girl from behind her. The girl scrambled to keep her balance, and failed miserably, falling to the floor with a thud. Perhaps it would have been easier if she wasn't using her free hand to cling onto the hat on her head for dear life. She shakily pushed herself back up, pulling her other hand out of Kokoro’s grip and using it to pat the dirt off her clothes.

“Warn someone before you pull them so suddenly…!”

“Introduce yourself!”

“Not even listening…” the girl murmured. The girl locked eyes with Kanon for a split second before starting straight down at the ground. “...I'm s— Uh. Misaki. I'm Misaki.”

“Um, nice to meet you...”

“She’s Michelle’s messenger! She’s gonna join us!”

“Like hell I am!”

It was normal for Kokoro to carry on at her own pace, but this conversation was harder to follow than usual. “What do you mean, ‘messenger’?”

“She talks to Michelle, and then Michelle comes!” Kokoro stroked her chin thoughtfully. “Like an owner, I guess?”

Misaki sighed in exasperation. “Yeah, sure. An owner.”

“Is that not right?”

Misaki flinched. “Uhh… n-no, that's right… I gotta go. Introduce myself to everyone else. It's. Uh. Nice to meet you… um...”

“O-Oh! Sorry… my name is Kanon.”

“Kanon. Great.” Misaki was already halfway out of the tent. “I'll. See you around. Definitely. Yeah. Come on, Kokoro.”

Kokoro happily followed after her, leaving a very confused Kanon alone with her thoughts once again.

 

* * *

 

Somehow, Kokoro had properly convinced Misaki to join them on their adventure. Unlike the rest of the group, Misaki was much more cynical about their end goal. Making everyone happy was impossible, she continued to insist.

Outside of her skepticism, however, Misaki bonded well with the group. She and Kokoro would argue, but it would eventually end in smiles, as conversations with Kokoro often did. Hagumi enjoyed training with Misaki; despite her insistence that she wasn't a fighter, her reflexes were often on par with the myrmidon. Misaki would also take the time to listen to Kaoru’s stories of old, and occasionally ask about her current magical studies, even if she didn't completely understand what Kaoru was talking about. Despite her initial rough attitude, she got along with everyone.

Well, everyone except Kanon. For whatever reason, Misaki would go out of her way to avoid Kanon. At first, Kanon told herself it was due to her being hurt, and that maybe Misaki had too much work to visit her in the infirmary. Once she'd been well enough to continue with chores, Misaki would still avoid her. There were times where she wouldn't see her for the entire day, despite being in the same tiny camp.

Kanon immediately placed the blame on herself. She must have done something that day, when they first met, that offended Misaki. Kanon didn't know much about places outside her village, so maybe she broke some unspoken rule.

Kanon was eventually given the okay to resume her usual duties. She smiled, trying her best to push her fears out of her mind. Quietly, she wished she could stay bedridden forever and avoid combat.

The watch that day was hers. Kanon tried to talk to Kokoro, maybe she could convince her to have the help her family hired watch the camp. Kokoro was stubborn in her ways, however, and refused to pass common army chores to her bodyguards.

Kanon nodded sadly and slowly slumped towards the edge of camp. She gripped her lance, her knuckles going pale as she gulped down cold air. Everything would be fine. Nothing bad would happen. She wouldn't get sniped by an archer and die before anyone noticed. The arrow definitely wouldn't go straight through her eye and kill her instantly—

“Um.”

Kanon yelped and fell backwards. Her lance fell to her side as well. She immediately raised her arms to shield from the surprise attack.

The attack never came. Her arms lowered slowly. What she thought was an attacker had just been Misaki. While the two weren't exactly on good terms, Kanon let out a sigh of relief. It was better her than someone who actively wanted to kill her. She looked up at the other girl, ready to apologize for her overreaction, but the words left her as she locked eyes with Misaki.

Misaki’s eyes were wide, looking as if she'd committed a grand transgression. She quickly pulled her hat down, covering her expression. While her eyes were covered well enough by the brim of her cap, Kanon could still see her mouth, squeezed tightly into a line. “...Sorry for scaring you, I'll just...” She turned away, back towards camp.

“Wait!”

Kanon’s outburst surprised the both of them. Kanon reaching out and grabbing Misaki’s hand surprised them even more.

“Um!” Kanon pulled her hand back. “I'm sorry! About that. I thought there was an intruder or…” Kanon laughed nervously. “A-Anyway… Is there something you need?”

Misaki kept her gaze towards the hand Kanon had held onto. Kanon looked at her, confused. She could have sworn that Misaki was blushing…

It felt like ages before Misaki finally answered. “Uh… no.”

“...oh.”

“I mean! Um. You were hurt. So I'm. Here.”

“...I'm sorry, I don't really understand?”

Misaki pinched at the bridge of her nose. “Right. Of course you don't.” She muttered something to herself, too quiet for Kanon to hear. She took a deep breath. “What I mean is. Letting someone who just only recovered take watch is irresponsible. So I'm here. To help. With the watch.” She nodded, confirming the words to herself.

“Oh!” Kanon nodded as well. “You don't have to, but thank you.”

Kanon picked up her lance once again and began to walk around the outside perimeter of the camp. She expected Misaki to head back to her tent, using her dismissal as an excuse to avoid her, but she followed along. It would have been a good opportunity for Kanon to get to know Misaki, if Misaki wasn't walking behind her, leaving a sizable gap between the two.

The two patrolled silently, with Kanon looking nervously between the forest around them and Misaki, and Misaki looking anywhere but at Kanon.

Just then, a sound of rustling came from a nearby bush. Kanon once again fell to the ground with a shriek. Misaki looked out at the forest with a blank expression. “It was just a squirrel.”

“O-oh…” Kanon laughed nervously. “Sorry about that…”

Misaki shrugged. She took a seat on the grass, making sure to keep her distance. But Kanon couldn't help but notice that this was probably the closest Misaki had ever been to her.

“...You're afraid.”

Kanon’s thoughts grinded to a halt. “What?”

“I noticed, back then. You were afraid of me… chelle. Michelle.”

“I wasn't… Wait, Misaki, how do you know—”

“What is it? Are you afraid of bears?”

Kanon shook her head. “No, I'm not afraid! Where did you get that…” With one incredulous look, Misaki thwarted Kanon’s meager attempt at denial. “I… I am afraid. B-But it's not bears! It’s… Dying. I'm afraid of dying.” Kanon looked down at her feet. Admitting her deepest fear to someone she'd only known for a short time was embarrassing, to say the least. Add the fact that it came after she'd gotten scared over nothing and Misaki staying silent after her admission, and perhaps dying wasn't as bad as she feared. At least it'd let her escape this awkward situation.

But for some reason, the fear she kept hidden easily spilled out when Misaki was there. Kanon caught a glimpse of her expression. She could read pity, and yet, there was also a small hint of… relief? But it was only a quick glimpse before she changed her expression to one deep in thought. Eventually, Misaki crossed her arms and nodded. “That definitely explains it. It's a common fear for humans to have. For anything to have, really. But then why—”

“‘Why am I here,’ right? I… I don't know.” Kanon wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to make herself into as small a ball as possible. “I wanted to be a hero, I guess. Someone strong and brave, like in fairy tales. I practiced hard, even when everyone made fun of me. But then I got into a fight… it wasn't even a real fight, it was just a sparring match! But I got hurt. I saw blood, and… I froze up. I kept trying to get better, but nobody believed in me... not even me. I was ready to give up when I met Kokoro.” Kanon looked up to the sky. “She shined, like a star. She wants to make everyone smile… it's noble, isn't it? I got sucked in. I thought I could change here, maybe I'd become as confident as Kokoro, Hagumi, and Kaoru are.” She laughed, pulling her body in tighter. “But I guess it hasn't really been working, has it? I keep repeating the same mistakes, and everyone has to waste their time saving me as usual. I… I don't think I'm cut out for this...”

Kanon could feel the tears trying to flow, but took a deep breath and held them down. It was silly of her to think she could do anything.

A gentle hand rested on her head. She looked up to see Misaki’s slightly blushed face.

“I'm sorry.”

“Huh?”

“That day, I… Michelle scared you. Michelle tried to help but she made it worse. So, I'm sorry. She sometimes forgets that people aren't used to seeing a big pink bear almost murder someone.”

Despite apologizing for an animal, Misaki spoke as if all the blame was on her. Kanon smiled as she shook her head. “You don't need to apologize! I… I probably would have really died if she wasn't there! Please don't worry, Misaki.”

Misaki looked away. “Y-Yeah… she just wanted to protect you, is all. And… um, she wants to… to keep—”

Suddenly, she lifted her hand off of Kanon’s head. Kanon blinked, blushing slightly as she realized how much she missed the warm touch. She followed Misaki’s gaze, looking deep into the forest.

“Misaki?”

No answer.

“Um, Misaki? Is everything—”

“Shh.” A hand covered Kanon’s lips. It wasn't her own. “I hear something. Stay here.”

Before Kanon could even begin formulating her questions, Misaki stood up and darted into the forest. Kanon blinked. So _that's_ how she kept up with Hagumi. And Misaki’s hand… Dumbfounded, she brought her hand up to her lips. It was warm...

...Oh, right. “W-Wait, Misaki!”

Kanon scrambled to grab her lance and ran straight towards the forest.

 

* * *

 

Now that Kanon wasn't running on adrenaline and actually had time to think about it, it was obvious that this was a _terrible_ idea. Misaki was much faster than she was, and she immediately lost sight of her. The last time she has been tasked with travelling through the forest, she'd gotten lost and ended up in the presence of the very aggressive bandit that started all this. That had been in the daytime, too. Now she was in the same forest, at night, and the person she was meant to follow was out of sight? Her challenged sense of direction had no chance.

“Fueee… Misaki… where are you?” she cried, choosing any which way, hoping it would be right. At this rate, Kanon would be the one needing finding. Still, she tried calling out for Misaki, mostly because she had no idea how to get back to camp.

As Kanon moved deeper and deeper in the forest, the less things became visible. It took another few minutes of wandering before she noticed a light within the trees. Hope finally returned to her, as it could be someone who could help her! She pushed her way through a bush, trying to get closer to the source, when her hand suddenly touched something that wasn't greenery. She picked a familiar brown garment out of the bush.

Misaki’s hat? What was it doing here?

The sound of an animal’s pained groan snapped her out of her thoughts. She pushed forward, towards the light and the sound. Finally, things were clear.

In a small clearing, lit by a small fire, was a man sitting, his back turned to Kanon. Lying near him was a pink bear breathing heavily. One of the bear's hind legs was caught in a large steel trap, the pointed edges digging into its skin.

“Mich—” Kanon almost yelled out. She slammed a hand on her mouth as soon as she realized and ducked behind some shrubs.

“The hell was that?” She heard the man turn. She held her breath and hugged her lance tight. Please don't look. Please!

A moment passed, but she heard no more movement from the man. He must have ignored it. It wasn't until she heard him mumble to himself and the fire crackling that she even dared to move.

Kanon didn't stand, choosing instead to look through the shrub. The man, bandaged around the torso, poked at the fire. “You gonna eat or what, bear?” He used the stick to poke at some meat lying near Michelle. She didn't react. “Come on, you stupid animal! I'm being nice enough to offer you a final meal, so fucking eat it!” He pulled the meat close enough for him to grab it, just so he could throw it back at Michelle. The meat sloppily slapped the bear's face. The man laughed hysterically. It had taken a moment, but Kanon recognized him as the bandit with the axe, the one that Michelle had saved her from. The mishandled gauze wrappings must have been from his injuries. Her eyes widened as she realized exactly what he planned to do with Michelle.

Michelle closed her eyes and huffed. It almost looked like she'd resigned herself to her fate. She opened her eyes again slowly. She looked at the bandit, and then out towards the forest, and then…

Michelle's eyes widened as she locked on the small view of Kanon from behind the leaves. Her gaze became more alert, and she let out a few huffs. Then suddenly, she relaxed again. Her eyes moved back to the bandit, then down to the floor. She looked at Kanon again, then out to the forest.

Meanwhile, the bandit stood, taking his axe with him. He crouched down, making sure to keep enough distance in case Michelle tried anything. He chuckled, and the thought of the creepy smile he was most definitely showing to Michelle was enough to make Kanon’s skin crawl.

“You look like you're suffering there. Bet you really wanna die, huh. Rather end it all. That's how animals are.” He let out a sinister laugh and leaned forward. “Well, tough shit. I'm going to make sure you suffer every moment up until the one where I _cut your head off_.”

He stood up, laughing maniacally once again. He slammed his boot into Michelle's snout, grinding it in for good measure. Michelle let out a painful moan.

Kanon had to do something.

_But this was the man who almost succeeded in killing her._

Michelle is hurt!

_If she went in there, she'd definitely die._

But if she didn't, Michelle would! She had to help!

_Her blood would spill right over Michelle’s limp corpse—_

“Don't hurt her!”

The bandit barely had time to register what was happening before Kanon slammed her shoulder right into his torso. He fell, screaming as pain coursed through his body. His axe slid off into the fire. He wrapped his arms around his body as he writhed in pain.

But the bandit wasn't important at the moment. Kanon kneeled down near Michelle’s lower half. The toothy trap her foot was caught in had its grips on her tight. Still, Kanon slid her hands around each side. She pulled with all her strength, ignoring the blades digging into her fingers. The trap gave, allowing Kanon the chance to pull it away from Michelle. She let go and the trap snapped shut.

“Michelle! I-It's okay, I'm here…” Kanon gently pet her head. “I'll…”

“ _...I was telling you to run, dammit…_ ”

Kanon blinked. Where did that voice come from? And it sounded a lot like…

“...Misaki?”

“You bitch!” The bandit stood, axe in hand. The smell of burning flesh and the marks on his arm showed exactly how far gone he was. “You wanna die?! You'll be first!”

He was going to kill her.

And then he would kill Michelle.

Kanon stood, lance in hand, and grit her teeth. 

"I won't let you hurt Michelle anymore!"

His frenzied state gave his attacks more power, but also made them much better telegraphed. He swung, aiming to cut off Kanon’s head. She ducked. The blade cut the air above her. Before he could recover for another swing, Kanon drove her lance into his side. He screamed again, his axe falling to the floor with a thud.

Kanon rushed up and pointed the blade at the man’s throat. Her hands trembled, but not as much as his entire did. She could see the tears well up in his eyes, hear his breath hitch.

“Leave! And don't come back! O-Or else!”

Even with the stuttering, the bandit got the message. He crawled back and ran as fast as he could into the darkness.

An eternity passed in the silence. Finally, once she felt safe, Kanon let the lance fall from her hands as she crumpled to the ground. She laughed, her voice shaky and her eyes filled with tears. She did it. She drove away a bad person with her own power. She protected a good friend.

...Michelle!

Kanon turned back to the bear, who was now sitting down on the dirt near her. She crawled towards her, eyes welling up with tears. “Michelle, you're okay… thank the gods…” Her gaze moved down to Michelle's wound. “Ah, I should fix that… uh…” Kanon reached for the injured limb, hesitantly, hands trembling. How does one heal a bear, anyway?! “Oh no, um…” She patted down her body, hoping that maybe she had some gauze on her person. Unfortunately, all her supplies were still back at camp.

“W-What do I do?!”

Suddenly, a bright light enveloped Michelle. Kanon looked away, but her mind was already coming up with the worst case scenario. She had no idea what happens when bears die, but it wasn't this… right? Right?! Oh gods, what if this is how pink bears die? She'd killed Michelle for not being fast enough!

The light subsided. Where there was once a bear leg was now that of a human. Kanon looked up, locking eyes with Misaki.

She looked up and down Misaki’s body. She looked exactly as she did when Kanon last saw her, save for the wound on her ankle, and... were those pink ears on her head?! Those were definitely round, pink, bear ears. On her head. And they were _moving_. “M-M-M-M…”

Misaki shook her head. “Don't worry, I've dealt with worse.”

Whatever Misaki was doing was completely ignored in favor of helpless babbling and wild gesturing. “You… you're! You're a… a…”

“Kanon—”

“A… A bear! You! Michelle! You're a bear!”

“Well, kind of—”

Her voice went up an octave. “You have ears!”

“Most things do?”

“And you… how?!”

“Kanon.” A warm touch on her shoulder released all of Kanon’s tension. Her shoulders slumped down. “Breathe.” Misaki took a deep breath, with Kanon mimicking her as best she could.

“Okay. I'll explain everything, I promise. But first, don't freak out.”

Kanon blinked.

“Your hands.”

Kanon looked down at her hands. The cuts from the trap had made a deeper gash than she'd thought in the moment. Now her hands were dripping red. A deep red. With blood.

_Her blood._

“I'll wrap them, hold still— Ah, Kanon?! No, I said don't—”

Kanon felt arms wrap around her before everything went dark.

 

* * *

 

“Have you heard of a Laguz?”

The two were headed back to camp, with Misaki leaning on Kanon’s shoulder to make up for her injured leg. It had taken a while to calm Kanon down and patch up her hands, to the point where the night no longer seemed as dark around them.

“No, I don't think so?”

“I'm not surprised, we're not common around here.” Misaki sighed. “I guess the best way to explain Laguz are people who can turn into animals. It's why I have the ears.”

“Oh.”

“Beorc — normal humans, I mean — don't really like us, so I keep it hidden. Well, I try to, but then this happened.”

“Oh… sorry.”

“No, I don't mean… I mean joining this group.”

“Oh, I see.” Kanon pursed her lips, a sharp pain in her chest at the thought of being the only one left in the dark. “So, does that mean everyone else knows?”

Misaki smiled wryly. “I tried to tell them, but those three stooges are way more dense than I thought. Even showing them these,” Misaki’s ears twitched, “didn't help. They thought it was a fancy accessory, or some sort of magic artifact used to summon Michelle. Kokoro’s private army knows, though.”

Kanon giggled at the thought of Kokoro and Hagumi marvelling and trying to touch Misaki’s ears. She seemed like the type to get embarrassed by physical touch, too.

Kanon looked down, trying to ignore the sudden thoughts of Misaki’s embarrassed face and the blushing that came with it.

“Sorry. About not telling you.”

“I understand. As for everyone else, they'll come to understand too… I think.”

“Doesn't exactly inspire confidence…”

The sights around them brightened, the sky turning a deep orange-red color as they finally approached the camp. Kanon handed Misaki’s hat back to her and they both exited the forest. They were immediately approached by two of the black-clad warriors hired by the Tsurumaki family.

“Lady Kanon, please allow us to handle it from here.” Misaki moved to use one of them as a crutch instead. The other gestured to Kanon to follow her in the opposite direction. Kanon followed obediently for a few steps before stopping. She looked back, watching Misaki limp towards the infirmary tent.

“...Misaki!”

Misaki turned back to look at Kanon.

“Please tell Michelle that I'll try hard to get stronger! Because I want to keep protecting her too!”

Kanon felt her heart leap out of her chest as Misaki smiled back at her brightly. “...Yeah. I'll let her know.”

**Author's Note:**

> in case anyone was wondering:
> 
> kokoro - cleric (if this was based on awakening she'd be a war cleric but what can you do)  
> hagumi - myrmidon  
> kaoru - light mage/monk  
> kanon - soldier  
> misaki - bear


End file.
